Alex is a french Phd candidate doing his research in Istanbul. He hosted us for the very first nights of our trip. His flatmate Dogan is not on the picture, as he left the day after our arrival to go help people affected by the earthquake.

Halim hosted us in his home in Denizli, near Paukkale (Turkey). He comes fro Tunisia and has been living there for 7 years.

A tea shop owner in Mardin, Turkey...

...and his customers.

Muhammed insisted on inviting us to his home in Mardin to admire to georgeous view from his rooftop.

Kathleen is a canadian NGO worker. She now lives in Dahuk (Iraqi Kurdistan) and hosts pretty much every couchsurfer there, sometimes up to 12 at the same time. She's also member of a cat rescue network and welcomes several cats in her home until she finds a new family for them.

We were hitchhiking between Amedi and Soran (Iraqi Kurdistan) and these two friendly Peshmerga stopped for us.

Ali hosted us in Soran (Iraqi Kurdistan).

We coudn't find a hotel in Ranya (Iraqi Kurdistan) when Yad approched us on the street. He's been living in Manchester for over 20 years but manages real estate in his home town. He offered us to sleep in one of his unrented flats.

Reza hosted us in Sulaymaniyah (Iraqi Kurdistan). He comes from Iran and moved to Iraq following a job opportunity 4 years ago.

Lisa moved to Erbil 5 years ago to teach in a german school il Erbil. She hosted us for 3 nights.

Sarah (Erbil), is a designer creating clothes and accessories combining female and male elements of kurdish tradition.

Zarah and her family hosted us in their home in Nasariyah, Iraq.

A teenage girl from an island in the iraqi marshes...

...and her younger sister.

This young man we met on the cemetery of Nadjaf insisted on getting his picture taken.

Alleem showed us around for several hours in his town of Mossul.

Burak is a student in Kars, where he hosted us for 3 nights.

Sur was our last hitchhiking ride in Turkey, taking us from Ardahan to the georgian border where he works as an electrician. It was a ride in sumpteous montain scenery with great kurdish music.

Tamo hosted us in Tbilissi for 2 nights. She showed us around to places we would never have seen on our own.

On the ferry on the Caspian sea, between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. The vodka was flowing with those friendly truckers.

John from Chicago also took the ferry with us. We were glad to learn that another traveller was waiting for that boat...

When travelling with a rental car through Mangistau region in Kazakhstan, our windscreen wipers broke down on the only rainy day of the year. This team of mechanics spent 2 hours trying to fix them. Without success, but it was a nice encouter.

Arriving in Nukous (UZ) after a 30 hours train ride from Aktau (KZ) with Vania, whom we would run into a few more times.

Abuldkhamid and Verena hosted us in Nukus. Fatima from India was also Chouchsurfing.

A student in a madrese in Boukhara.

A silk weaver in Fergana, Uzbekistan.

A man sitting on a bench in the desolate city of Murghab, on the Pamir plateau of Tadjikistan.

A shepard on the Pamir Plateau, Tadjikistan, often carrying the young goats that are too little to walk to the pastures by themselves.

A girl not enjoying Turkestan's DisneyLand.

A street food vendor in Xi'an.

Attaching buddhist prayer cards in South Korea.

A musician in Chendgu.

A baker making naan in Xi'an.

A borred chinese girl during her parents endless photo session.

Sandup and his son. We stayed 2 days with his family in western Sichuan, getting a glimpse of what the life of yak shepards looks like.

Sandup's wife busy milking her yaks.

No tour of Peshawar is complete without visiting Prince Mahir and his room fool of antiques.

A young boy in a shrine in Sewan Shariff, Pakistan.

What it's like to travel in Pakistan !

Our mandatory police escort in Sukker, Pakistan

A woman praying in Sewan Shariff, Pakistan.

An improvised concert on a street near Passu,Pakistan.

A hindu woman in Sukker. She does not look like it, but she asked for her picture to be taken.